New Immersion Tactile Effect Solutions Communicate Physical Presence,
Emotion and Realism
Company to demonstrate new tactile interface solutions at Mobile World
Congress
Mobile World Congress 2013 App Planet Hall, Stand 8.1F49
Business Wire
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- February 21, 2013
While mobile communications and content can be highly personal, user
experiences can feel lifeless, isolated and detached, with interactions
reduced to unresponsive gestures on touchscreens. Immersion Corporation
(Nasdaq:IMMR), the leading developer and licensor of touch feedback
technology, today announced new build-time interface solutions for OEMs to
enrich interactive mobile experiences: one enabling conveyance of physical
presence, another bringing realism to the branded mobile user interface. The
company will be demonstrating its new Tactile Presence and Integrated Themes
solutions, along with other advances in tactile user experiences, February
25-28 in the App Planet Hall, Stand 8.1F49, at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2013
in Barcelona.
Immersion's Tactile Presence transmits haptic information between mobile
devices, allowing users to ...
Immersion's Tactile Presence transmits haptic information between mobile
devices, allowing users to feel one another's actions. (Photo: Business Wire)
Communicating Physical Presence
The Tactile Presence solution provides an API for mobile communication
applications to call low-power haptics, also known as tactile effects. By
creating and transmitting tactile information between two mobile devices,
Tactile Presence adds a sense of physical presence to interactive mobile
experiences. Users can feel the remote actions of another through the
application of dynamic tactile effects that capture and communicate emotive
information, creating meaningful telepresence. As a result, a child and parent
can be more connected in a video chat by feeling each other draw and playfully
interact in a shared tactile space; friends can inject more feeling into SMS
and chat by using LOL and other emoticons that can be physically felt;
interactive gaming is made more intuitive as players can actually sense remote
partner actions; and loved ones who are miles apart can feel more connected as
their fingers touch while they share a phone call.
“Everyone is familiar with the idea of telepresence, the notion that while
we’re talking on a phone, we create a shared audio space with others. With
Tactile Presence, we have extended the idea of a shared space to include the
sense of touch,” explains Immersion’s vice president of User Experience, Chris
Ullrich. “The sense of touch is fundamental, emotive and creates a strong
sense of connection. With Tactile Presence, OEMs can harness this powerful
sense to create more satisfying mobile telepresence experiences.”
The Tactile Presence API is optimized to work with Immersion’s TouchSense®
5000 embedded software for high definition (HD) haptics. The Tactile Presence
solution transmits tactile information via mobile network or Wi-Fi and will be
available to OEMs in 2H 2013.
Integrated Themes
Mobile OEMs are challenged to create branded user experiences that distinguish
their devices in a competitive market. With Immersion’s Integrated Theme
Module, OEMs can extend their brand into the device “feel” by tightly
integrating the audio, visual and tactile experience. For example, a user
experience designed to communicate the idea of tranquility, with calming
natural elements, is transformed with the addition of tactile effects. The
sound and visual of bamboo swaying is reinforced through the sensation of
rustling leaves in your hands. A user interface designed for a branded
automotive experience comes to life when you feel the virtual car door unlock
as you enter the home screen.
“The Integrated Theme Module enables OEMs to rethink the user experience with
tactile effects as one of the tools in their design arsenal. With Integrated
Themes, touch effects enhance the whole device design language, not just
button confirmation, creating a more immersive overall experience,” explains
Immersion’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, Dennis Sheehan.
“Incorporating tactile effects into the design stage of a mobile experience is
critical. We understand from user research that well-designed tactile effects
positively influence the perception of device quality, up leveling the device
experience and the OEM brand.”
The Integrated Theme Module is a build-time tool for OEMs which utilizes
Immersion’s TouchSense 3000 and TouchSense 5000 embedded software to create
high-quality tactile effects throughout the Android OS. Integrated Themes
creates a holistic UI experience by injecting specialized tactile effects into
the lock screen, home screen, transitions, button confirmation, notification
tray and alerts. The module comes with a series of pre-designed reference
themes, but OEMs can easily customize with their own assets to create a unique
and branded experience. The Integrated Theme Module will be available to OEMs
in Q2, 2013.
Immersion TouchSense Solutions & HD Haptics
Immersion’s TouchSense embedded software solutions for mobile devices optimize
the capabilities of device actuators to create high-quality tactile effects,
with low-power consumption. In Immersion tests, applications with haptics
effects running on devices with TouchSense consume approximately 2% of total
CPU processing. This compares to 7% CPU processing consumption when running on
devices without Immersion TouchSense. Immersion’s TouchSense 3000 solution is
designed for eccentric mass motors (ERM) and linear resonant actuators (LRA).
The TouchSense 5000 solution optimizes high fidelity actuators, such as piezo,
ultra fast LRA or electroactive polymer, to create nuanced and varied effects
across a broad frequency range, called HD Haptics. The greater range and
fidelity of Immersion HD Haptics open up the tactile channel as a way to
create lifelike effects and communicate more meaningful information. More
information on HD Haptics and Immersion’s TouchSense products can be found
here.
About Immersion (www.immersion.com)
Founded in 1993, Immersion (NASDAQ: IMMR) is the leading innovator in haptic
technology; the company's touch feedback solutions deliver a more compelling
sense of the digital world. Using Immersion's high-fidelity haptic systems,
partners can transform user experiences with unique and customizable touch
feedback effects; excite the senses in games, videos and music; restore
"mechanical" feel by providing intuitive and unmistakable confirmation;
improve safety by overcoming distractions while driving or performing a
medical procedure; and expand usability when audio and visual feedback are
ineffective. Immersion's TouchSense technology provides haptics in mobile
phone, automotive, gaming, medical and consumer electronics products from
world-class companies. With over 1,300 issued or pending patents in the U.S.
and other countries, Immersion helps bring the digital universe to life. Here
what we have to say at blog.immersion.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that involve risks
and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or
prove incorrect, could cause the results of Immersion Corporation and its
consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements.
All statements, other than the statements of historical fact, are statements
that may be deemed forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to,
statements regarding the benefits of Immersion’s solutions (including, but not
limited to, the Tactile Presence and Integrated Themes products), and the
statements regarding Immersion’s anticipation that Tactile Presence will be
available to OEMs in 2H 2013 and the Integrated Themes Module will be
available to OEMs in Q2 2013.
Immersion's actual results might differ materially from those stated or
implied by such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties
associated with Immersion's business, which include, but are not limited to:
unanticipated difficulties and challenges encountered in product development
efforts by Immersion and its licensees; unanticipated difficulties and
challenges encountered in implementation efforts by Immersion’s licensees of
Tactile Presence and Integrated Themes; adverse outcomes in any future
intellectual property-related litigation and the costs related thereto; the
effects of the current macroeconomic climate; delay in or failure to achieve
commercial demand for Immersion's products or third party products
incorporating Immersion's technologies; and a delay in or failure to achieve
the acceptance of force feedback as a critical user experience. Many of these
risks and uncertainties are beyond the control of Immersion.
For a more detailed discussion of these factors, and other factors that could
cause actual results to vary materially, interested parties should review the
risk factors listed in Immersion's most current Form 10-Q, which is on file
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking
statements in this press release reflect Immersion's beliefs and predictions
as of the date of this release. Immersion disclaims any obligation to update
these forward-looking statements as a result of financial, business, or any
other developments occurring after the date of this release.
The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" in this press release does not
mean a legal partner or legal partnership.
Immersion, the Immersion logo, TouchSense and HD Haptics and Integrator are
trademarks of Immersion Corporation in the United States and other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
(IMMR - T)
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Contact:
Immersion Media:
Edelman
Reagan Crossley, 650-762-2955
reagan.crossley@edelman.com
or
Immersion Investors:
The Blueshirt Group
Jennifer Jarman, 415-217-5866
jennifer@blueshirtgroup.com